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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015 Issue 2 - How Earlington Got Its Start.pdfAnnual Meeting Makeover on June 3 at RHM. President’s Report by Stefanie McIrvin, Board President. Exhibits Report by Sarah Samson, Collection Manager. Museum Report by Elizabeth P. Stewart, Director. The City of Renton is composed of many unique neighborhoods, each with its own special origin story and character; Earlington is a wonderful example of this. In the early 1900s the West was full of promoters, developers, and boosters, (mostly) men intent on making a buck by singing the praises of their newfound home. And that is where the story of Earlington starts… In the late 1800s Renton’s West Hill, overlooking the Green, Black, and Cedar Rivers, was home to a few farmers and a few escapees from Seattle’s roughness. Farmers Christian and Rachel Clymer purchased land on the hill and on the flats along the Black River as early as the 1860s. Their neighbor Erasmus Smithers ran a dairy farm along the Black River. One of Seattle’s first physicians, Dr. Herman Beardsley Bagley, also purchased 600 acres on the Black River in the 1890s. He built a grand home on the high peak of his 200-acre farm. Dr. Bagley did not enjoy the home for very long, however. He died in 1899, leaving the house and land to his wife. Kittie Bagley remarried in 1901, and she and her second husband, Col. Mitchell Glenn, lived on in the Victorian farmhouse for a few years before deciding to sell. Also In This Issue... RENTON HISTORICALSOCIETY & MUSEUM Summer June 2015 Volume 46 Number 2 makeover meeting Annual Continued on page 5 2 4 83 HOw EARLINgTON gOT ITS START Ten Miles From The Totem Pole QUARTERLY by Elizabeth P. Stewart 2 | R E NTON H ISTORY MUSEUM ANNUAL MEETINg MAkEOVER This year we’re shaking things up with an Annual Meeting Makeover! We’re celebrating five years of accomplishment under our Museum Master Plan by changing up our Annual Meeting with participatory activities. After a brief business meeting, you’ll have a chance to visit three activity centers. Ever wanted to be a curator? Make shoebox exhibits with us! Have you visited our current exhibit, Furry Friends? Interact with other history-minded people and share your pet stories! How are we doing? Help us shape our future plans by giving us feedback on recent projects! On J U NE 3 at 5:30PM SUSIE BR ESSAN 1961-2015 makeover meetingAnnual We are so very sorry to acknowledge the passing of one of our long-term Board members in late February of this year. Susie Bressan had served on the Board for over ten years, and she did the layout for our quarterly newsletter for many years. In her last few years of Board service Susie served as the driving force behind our annual dinner auctions. A lifetime Renton resident, she had an encyclopedic knowledge of Renton families— especially the Italian ones—and was always RENTEENS’NEw PROJECT The RenTeens are currently developing an exhibit about two of Renton’s most iconic shopping districts: the Downtown and the Landing. Some of the questions they are examining are: What makes a city feel like home? How do businesses meet the diverse needs of residents? How do people of different generations and backgrounds perceive their city differently? To collect information for this exhibit, they are interviewing community members, diving into our historical collection, and performing ready to share her stories. We will miss her dry wit and her helpful attitude, as will so many Rentonites. Thank you for all you did to advance and improve our Museum, Sooz! research of their own. If you have any photos, objects, or information pertaining to Downtown Renton or the Landing that you think could help the RenTeens, please contact Colleen at clenahan@rentonwa.gov. S UMMER Q U ARTERLY , 2015 | 3 MUSEUM REPORT QUARTERLY Summer 2015 Elizabeth P. Stewart Director Coming up next month we are welcoming back to the Museum our Community Engagement MAP assessor, Melissa Prycer from the Dallas Heritage Village. MAP—or Museum Assessment Program—is a very helpful evaluation program offered by our professional organization, the American Alliance of Museums. The program provides opportunities for museums to improve their operations in four different areas: Organizational, Collections Stewardship, Community Engagement, and Leadership. We are proud that the Renton History Museum has now completed three of these assessments, the most recent one in summer 2014. With Colleen Lenahan, our new Public Engagement Coordinator, on board, summer 2014 was a perfect time to revisit our aspirations about building a bigger audience. Since the Board approved our master plan in winter 2010, we have been offering more changing exhibits, creating more collaborative projects, and involving more of the next generation in doing history. The Community Engagement MAP helped us think about how successful we’ve been and how we can improve. For the Community Engagement MAP, we applied for an assessment, formed a MAP Team, conducted a self-study, and then hosted a site visit by Melissa in August. During the self-study process we offered the public the chance to take a survey. The results were enlightening: we learned that Renton residents who know us and have visited have a favorable impression, and they’re enjoying our new collaborative and interdisciplinary approach of mixing things up by combining history with art or science occasionally. The challenge remains people’s fear that history museums are boring; as one respondent commented, “It’s better than I thought, I will tell others to come here.” Our MAP assessor, Melissa, visited us for 2 ½ days, meeting with stakeholders and touring the city. Her conversations were focused on how to help us build our audience beyond Renton’s history-lovers. She had some great suggestions for us, including regular recurring programs and “niche” programs that will appeal to young professionals, for example. “As a local history museum in a developing downtown area, RHM has a unique opportunity to become a third place for residents,” she suggested. “Any time the museum can be host to opportunities that allow people to get to know each other, [this] will help build the connection between the community and the museum.” With our new logo and marketing materials, our strong teen advisory council, and our exhibit-related program, “The Doggie Days of Summer,” we’re looking forward to having Melissa come see our improvements. And we hope you’ll notice them, too! by Elizabeth P. Stewart, Museum Director Members of our MAP Team, Jennifer Davis Hayes, Colleen Lenahan, and Lynn Bohart, pose with assessor Melissa Prycer (2nd from left). RENTON HISTORICAL QUARTERLY Sarah Samson Graphic Design & Layout Karl Hurst City of Renton Print & Mail Services RENTON HISTORICAL SOCIETY BOARD OF TRUSTEES Stefanie McIrvin, President Meris Mullaley, Vice President Laura Clawson, Treasurer Elizabeth P. Stewart, Secretary Sandra Meyer, 2015 Alice Stenstrom, 2016 Lisa Wivag, 2016 Theresa Clymer, 2017 Kim Sweet, 2017 Vicki Jo Utterstrom, 2017 MUSEUM STAFF Elizabeth P. Stewart Museum Director Sarah Samson Collection Manager Colleen Lenahan Public Engagement Coordinator Laurie Lent Office Aide RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM 235 MILL AVENUE S RENTON, wA 98057 P (425) 255-2330 F (425) 255-1570 HOURS: Tuesday - Saturday 10:00am - 4:00pm ADMISSION: $3 (Adult) $1 (Child) Break dancing in the Museum isn’t for everyone, but it helps us bring history to new audiences. 4 | R ENTON H I STORY MU SEUM PRESIDENT’S MESSAgE J ust as spring brings new life and fresh air, the Renton Historical Society’s Board of Trustees is working to bring new, fresh ideas to our work. I am excited to share with you some of the accomplishments that the Board has achieved in the last few months. First, the Board vetted and approved a new Museum logo. While this may seem mundane to some, it’s extremely important for branding purposes, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect. With the new logo Museum staff will be able to redesign their business cards and create a style guide and marketing standards. We’ve already been able to take advantage of the City of Renton’s offer to create a Museum-specific Downtown Renton banner, free of charge. As part of the Board’s initiative to increase awareness of the Museum in the community and make ourselves more visible, we are excited about the new logo and hope you like it, too. As I mentioned in my letter last quarter, another topic of importance to the Board is filling our current vacancies and building a diverse Board. To that end, we hosted a prospective trustee open house at the end of April. The purpose was to educate potential trustees about the Museum and its staff, the Board and its governing and fundraising purposes, and how the City of Renton supports the Museum. The event was very well attended and guests seemed to appreciate the informal atmosphere. The hope is that we will continue to fill our Board vacancies with a variety of people with numerous backgrounds, skills and strengths. The event was so successful that we may offer similar events biannually or quarterly. While I can’t share the details just yet, the Board is also working on a new, exciting membership event that is sure to please. It will be a great opportunity for us to get out into the community and partner with downtown Renton business. More details to come! Thank you for your continued support and dedication to the Museum. We appreciate you! by Stefanie McIrvin, President UPCOMINg EVENTS RENTON POLICE DEPARTMENT’S k9 UNIT June 24 1:00-2:00 pm June 27 1:00-2:00 pm Officers from Renton Police Department and some current K9 dogs will demonstrate how gentle and disciplined these brave animals are. A NOBLE VOCATION: THE EMPOwERINg wORk OF gUIDE DOgS July 9 5:30-6:30 pm Join Guide Dogs for the Blind volunteer puppy raiser Jana Decker (and canine assistants!) to learn about the important work of guide dogs. The newly approved logo! 2015 Renton Downtown banner. Stefanie McIrvin President 27 FLAgS: THE EVOLUTION OF OUR STAR-SPANgLED BANNER June 13 1:00-2:00 pm In honor of Flag Day, join RHM volunteer and retired Army 1st Sgt. Judy Leu as she presents all 27 flags that have flown over the United States since its inception. SU MMER Q UARTERLY, 2015 | 5 Just as Kittie Bagley Glenn was getting ready to sell her substantial landholdings, the Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul Railroad was preparing to complete its line into Seattle. Railroad President A. J. Earling had made at least two highly publicized visits to Seattle, scouting land for the railroad, right-of-way, and other facilities, and sharp real estate investors hoped to capitalize on the expansion. On a visit to Seattle in November 1905, Earling expressed his “deep astonishment at the remarkable development Seattle has made within the past eighteen months,” and investors agreed.1 Earling chose Seattle as the terminus of his railroad instead of Tacoma. The newly formed Jones-Thompson Investment Co. purchased Kittie Bagley’s land on March 24, 1906 for $125,000, expecting that the CMSP would pass somewhere near enough to make the land valuable.2 Perhaps it was A. J. Earling’s confidence in Seattle’s growth or perhaps it was a desire to attract his favorable attention, but A. A. Jones, Fred R. Thompson, and John F. Douglas named the planned community “Earlington” in his honor. By July 1, 1906 the town was platted and the investment company was predicting extravagant growth for the future.3 Thompson and Jones (and their silent partner, Douglas, one of Seattle’s preeminent lawyers and real estate men) Continued from page 1 Cover photo: Bagley Mansion in Earlington, 1912. Dr. Herman Beardsley Bagley’s grand home served as the clubhouse for the Earlington golf Club for many years. (RHM# 1983.066.1794) Lewis family home, 1915. Renton coal miner David T. Lewis (at right) and his family were among the first settlers in Earlington, in a house built by his son-in-law george w. Custer. (RHM# 2000.127.8501) HOw EARLINgTON gOT ITS START Ten Miles From the Totem Pole 6 | RE NTON H ISTORY M USEUM envisioned the new town as having something for everyone. Being only “ten miles from the totem pole” in Pioneer Square, Earlington was variously marketed as “Seattle’s Manufacturing District,” “Home of the Workingman,” and “The Industrial Suburb of Seattle.” Ads touted its four convenient railways, its two miles of river frontage, and their future plans for the Cascade Steel Foundry, the CMSP roundhouse, and the Seattle Frog & Switch Co., all of which would provide many blue-collar jobs.4 “This beautiful suburban addition appeals to the man who plans his home for comfort, freedom, low taxes, and modern conveniences,” while still being able to grow vegetables and raise chickens, advertisements boasted.5 The town started with six tidy homes on 40 by 100 foot lots that could be purchased for $250–$700, with a $50 down payment and a mortgage of $10 a month. Lumberman William T. Harris and his brother W. P. Aiken, a teamster, were among the first to purchase homes in Earlington. Other early buyers were Albert L. Laing, Joseph Lang, Charles P. Lind, and Joe Cross.6 Although the Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul did purchase forty acres, the investment company’s grand industrial plans never materialized. Seattle Frog & Switch Co. was located in Earlington for a time, but for the most part the successful businesses were those that catered to the growing residential population who worked in Seattle or Renton and rode the Interurban or the Seattle-Renton to work. Edgar L. Hampton’s The Westerner Magazine was Earlington’s first successful commercial enterprise, a mighty little publication touting the benefits of western living to Easterners thinking Edgar Hampton’s westerner Magazine was Earlington’s first successful business. Many locals worked there before it closed in 1914. (From Earlington, The Industrial Suburb of Renton, [1906], RHM# 2009.024.022) Phizia Harris, 1908. Seventeen-year old Phizia Harris’s first job was at the westerner Magazine. She later took over as President of Lake Shore Lines after her husband’s death. (RHM# 41.0885) SU MMER QUARTERLY, 2015 | 7 about starting over. Hampton’s publication had its home in Earlington until 1914, employing W. T. Harris’s daughter Phizia and other local young women in its office. Phizia doubled as the postmaster’s assistant after the town post office was situated in the Westerner offices.7 George H. Williams arrived in Earlington in about 1907; he worked as an engineer in the Renton Coal Mine and later in the local ice plant. Williams jumped into Earlington life with both feet. He was the town’s only school board member for many years. In 1917 the forty-one year-old Williams married twenty-six year-old Phizia Harris, his second marriage, and they had two children, Martha and George Jr. In 1926 he and three other Renton investors founded the Seattle-Renton Stage Line, a bus company, and he served as the company president until his death in 1933. After George’s death, Phizia took over as Treasurer and then President of what became Lake Shore Lines, the basis for today’s Metropolitan Transit Authority.8 Earlington was a slow starter, at least as compared with the Jones-Thompson aspirations, and the sellers did have some obstacles to overcome. The town’s earliest residents were used to watching from above as the Black and Cedar Rivers regularly flooded, but new homebuyers were nervous, especially after watching the Great Flood of 1911. “Buyers are on the alert,” reported the Seattle Daily Times, because they confused Earlington Gardens with Earlington Heights; the latter was situated “far above the highest water mark on record.”9 “Undoubtedly the similarity of the names had a great deal to do with the annoyance to the salesman when people would enquire if Earlington Heights was still under water,” the newspaper speculated.10 Rentonites were not intimidated by the rivers, however, and many began to invest in Earlington homes. Renton coal miner David T. Lewis’s home was built by his son-in-law and local builder George W. Custer in 1907. Lewis had been a Renton miner since the 1880s, and the low price of Earlington lots allowed him and his wife Mary Ann to become home- owners in their 40s. He lived in his Earlington home until his death in 1935. Other Rentonites who owned Earlington land were grocer William Tonkin and contractor Edmund E. Duff, both of whom bought for investment purposes.11 By 1910 three-hundred residents made Earlington their home. Some residents worked on the dairy farms owned by Nisbet Hardie and Fred Nelsen at the bottom of the hill or in nearby coal mines or on the railroads, but many commuted to Seattle. The founders of the Seattle grocery Cook Bros., Alban and Arthur Cook, and their brother Edwin, made their home in Earlington. Also residing in the new town was Bruce A. Griggs, the “master mariner” who in 1892 established the first steamboat line on the Columbia River with his brothers James J. and C. C. Griggs. Major M. J. Whitson, an engineer with Seattle’s Stone Webster Engineering Co., also lived there. Jones-Thompson partner John F. Douglas, his wife Neva, and their three small children were among the first to buy there; Neva became the driving force behind the first Renton Library, by researching the Carnegie Library program and writing the application for grant funds.12 Continued on page 10 A few prospective buyers were scared off by occasional floods, like this one in 1932. David T. Lewis’s house on Beacon Avenue is on the left. (RHM# 2000.127.8317) 8 | R E NTON H ISTORY MUSEUM I n April the Renton History Museum officially became a community museum partner for the University of Washington Museology Program’s class MUS 524: Museum Exhibition Seminar. Klondike Gold Rush Museum and Edmonds Historical Museum are also community museum partners. Each museum presented exhibit themes to the students, who were then allowed to pick their favorite. One of our themes was chosen and Renton History Museum ended up with a great team of four: Claire Aldenhuysen, Amanda Benson, Brianne Baird, and Tori Dennis. T he topic we presented to them was very broad: medicine in Renton. We gave them information about local hospitals, doctors, and nurses. The Renton History Museum has a very robust medical collection, including the handwritten intake ledger from the original Renton Hospital, many photographs spanning Renton’s medical history, and a sizeable collection of historic medical instruments. After committing to the Renton History Museum, Team Surgeon (as they have named themselves), first set out to learn what our museum EXHIBITS REPORT by Sarah Samson, Collection Manager Sarah Samson Collection Manager Polio vaccine, 1962. (RHM# 1998.027.172) visitors would like to see. They created a short survey to gain insight into the Renton community. With over 60 responses to their survey, they ended up with more than enough data to help inform their decisions. After sifting through all the survey responses, the team decided on a thematic structure: life, birth, and death. T hey have already created a list of the artifacts and photographs they would like to include in the exhibit and are now beginning work on an exhibit script. An exhibit script is a master document that contains all the text in a single exhibit. It includes text panels, photo captions, and object labels. Creating the script is the final thing Team Surgeon has to do for their class. Fortunately, the team has indicated that they are interested in staying on with the project and seeing it through to creation and installation. T he plan as of now is to continue work on this exhibit and have it ready to install just before the end of the year. Team Surgeon will also be involved in creating interactives within the exhibit as well as helping us develop programs to augment the exhibit. All of the staff here at the museum will be working closely with the team to help them develop their exhibit. We hope that this exhibit will be the first in a long line of partnerships with UW’s Museology Program! Amanda Benson, Claire Aldenhuysen, Brianne Baird. Not pictured: Tori Dennis. Elizabeth Morrison and Margaret Lewis outside Renton Hospital, 1927. (RHM# 2000.127.8170) SU MMER QUARTERLY, 2015 | 9 MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS February 16, 2015 - May 1, 2015 Susie Bressan Patricia Auten Carrie & greg Bergquist kelly & Jim Beymer Ms. M.L. Burkhalter Mary Burns-Haley Theresa Clymer Vicki Dallosto Rick & Sonia L. gaston Louise george Don gustine Mary L. gustine-Nelson kathy kearney & Ed Torkelson Toni Nelson Sarah & wil Samson Elizabeth Stewart Lynn & Marian Thrasher Mario & Victor Tonda Nancy Turrentine James & Maya wilhoit Martha wine Terri & Bill Briere Ruth kirner Dorothy C. Bruce Harold A. Bruce Olive Clow wendell & Cleo Forgaard karen Delaurenti Theresa Clymer Mary gusa Mary Sutter Mary kubota Larry Crook & Jeannie greene-Crook Dennis Livingston Richard Hoyt Bob Logue Ed & Mary Jean Cooks Sarah Jane Hisey walter (Corky) Lord wendell & Cleo Forgaard Donald McCready Al & Shirley Armstrong Pam & Louie Barei Dorothy Faull Miller wendell & Cleo Forgaard Leonard (Lennie) Frank Minardo Carrie & greg Bergquist Shirley Jean (Cleveland) Park wendell & Cleo Forgaard Robert (Bob) S. Poli Mildred Cooper Hazelle Dubois wendell & Cleo Forgaard Lois gibson gerry & Mary Marsh Joy & Jim Poff Joe Puhich Rachel Thomas MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF $100 OR MORE Eileen “Monaghan” Austin James williams Susie Bressan Anonymous Janet & glenn Bressan The Eliason Cousins Terry Higashiyama kevin & Norma McQuiller Sue & Mike Moeller Mary Sutter Doug & Andrea williams Terri & Bill Briere Theresa Clymer Frank & Marilyn Lansciardi Jim Lansciardi Jonelle Petermeyer Vernon Petermeyer Raymond C. Storey kay Rich MEMORIAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF $500 OR MORE Terri & Bill Briere Cheryl Payseno THE 100TH BIRTHDAY OF BEA MATHEwSON Jere I. Thornton gENERAL CONTRIBUTIONS Trudy Dasovick Jean Hobart Jenan McNeight Tom & Linda Morris gene Sens of Blossom Vegetarian Restaurant Dorothy Treosti Patty Yothers Robert & gilda Youngquist gENERAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF $100 OR MORE Laura Clawson Stefanie McIrvin Paul Monk Vicki Utterstrom Lisa wivag MATCHINg gIFT CONTRIBUTION Ralph Owen Boeing Matching gift Program David Pickett United Technologies Matching gift Program NEw MEMBERS Vic Carpine Elizabeth (Liz) Menzel BENEFACTOR MEMBERS william gaw gene Sens of Blossom Vegetarian Restaurant PATRON MEMBERS Shane klingenstein of Edward Jones Denis & Patty Law CORPORATE MEMBERS Ray & Lynn Peretti of Hub Insurance Agency gIFT MEMBERSHIP DONORS Margaret gambill IN-k I ND CONTRIBUTIONS Rob guthrie of R&R graphics kathy BarlowBySheim of Puget Sound Energy Are you looking for a medium-size space for your gardening talents? Are you looking for an unusual volunteer opportunity? The Renton Historical Society needs a wannabe garden designer to turn our jungle CALLINg ALL gARDENERS into an attractive and productive outdoor space on a small budget. We’ll recruit volunteers to help you bring your vision to life. Please email Liz Stewart at estewart@rentonwa.gov. 10 | R ENTON H I STORY M U SEUM Earlington’s major attraction was the Earlington Town & Country Club, later the Earlington Golf Club. Soon after the Jones-Thompson Investment Co. began building homes, a separate group of Seattle investors installed a nine-hole golf course, with the old Bagley home as clubhouse. Golfers had only four courses in the Seattle area from which to choose: the Seattle Golf & Country Club, and courses in Everett, Tacoma, and Earlington. Between 1910 and 1920 all the prominent Seattle businessmen—Longacres founder Joseph Gottstein, and Bill and Mike Piggott of Pacific Car & Foundry, among them— played there. Golfers came down on weekend getaways to enjoy golf, tennis, and perhaps some fishing at Ferry Fay Burrows’ Pleasure Resort, one-half mile away.13 The club expanded, eventually adding twenty guest rooms in the clubhouse with summer tent homes surrounding. In the 1920s a newer clubhouse was built, and the mansion became a boardinghouse, apartments, and a social center for the wider Earlington community. The Earlington Improvement Club used it for dances, card parties, and strawberry festivals to raise funds for streetlights. Dail Butler Laughery later remembered working in the kitchen occasionally; at the 1915 Fourth of July festivities she washed dishes for 315 people.14 Continued from page 7 The construction of the Earlington School marked the beginning of Earlington’s mature phase as a town; there were finally enough children to warrant their own school. In 1910 thirty children regularly attended the small wooden schoolhouse; by 1914 town elders were hopeful enough to construct a school building of Gladding McBean bricks. William Milhuff, George Williams, and William Tonkin served as the school’s first Board of Directors, and Lulu Bacon, Helen Irvin, Kate Bassen, and “Miss Seidell” were among the first teachers. Pupils from Renton transferred there while the Henry Ford School was under construction, and again during WWII, when the number of school-age children increased exponentially with the influx of defense workers to Renton and Seattle.15 The Earlington School was always part of the Renton School District, and before long, Earlington itself joined the City of Renton. “Seattle’s Industrial Suburb” ultimately had more in common with Renton’s farmers and workers, and real estate agent Robert L. Haddock would later dub the neighborhood “The Queen Anne Hill of Renton.”16 ENDNOTES 1 “Earling Looking Over Coast Plans,” Seattle Daily Times, 13 November 1905, p.5; Maude Davies, “Interesting History… Earlington Named After Railroad President,” Renton Chronicle, May 1940. 2 “New Corporations,” Seattle Daily Times, 21 March 1906, p.5; “Big Options Allowed to Expire Today,” Seattle Daily Times, 26 March 1906, p.4. 3 Advertisement, “Earlington,” Seattle Daily Times, 1 July 1906, p.20. 4 Advertisement, “How to Tell a Prosperous Community,” Seattle Daily Times, 17 July 1907, p.11; Advertisement, “Earlington,” Seattle Daily Times, 1 July 1906, p.20. 5 “Earlington, The Industrial Suburb of Seattle,” [Seattle: Jones-Thompson Investment Co., 1906], Collection of the Renton History Museum, #2009.024.022; Advertisement, “The Home That Belongs to You!,” Seattle Daily Times, 14 November 1911, p.10. 6 Maude Davies, “Interesting History… Earlington Named After Railroad President,” Renton Chronicle, May 1940. 7 Other young women who worked in the Westerner offices were: Sadie Barash, stenographer, and book binders Mary Cross, Louise Elleg, Nellie Sedlacek, and Gertrude Stidell, as well as Annie Vow, Jessie McTague, Lottie Spence, and Lucy Guitteau. R. L. Polk & Co.’s Tacoma-Seattle Interurban Directory, 1911–1912 (Seattle: R. L. Polk & Co., Inc. 1911); Maude Davies, “Interesting History… Earlington Named After Railroad President,” Renton Chronicle, May 1940. Edgar L. Hampton closed up shop in 1914 and headed for Los Angeles, where he built a successful career as a short story-writer. His stories appeared in Saturday Evening Post and The American Magazine. 8 “George Williams Called By Death,” Renton Chronicle, 3 August 1933, p.1; “Mrs. Geo. Williams Treasurer, Trustee, As Directors Meet,” Renton Chronicle, 10 August 1933, p.1; “Phizia A. Williams,” Renton Record-Chronicle, 8 July 1979, p.B4. 9 “High Water Stories Mislead Homeseekers,” Seattle Daily Times, 2 December 1911, p.5; Advertisement, “Highest Water on Record,” Seattle Daily Times, 22 November 1911, p.8. 10 “High Water Stories Mislead Homeseekers,” Seattle Daily Times, 2 December 1911, p.5. 11 Polk’s Tacoma-Seattle Interurban Directory, 1911–1912. 12 Polk’s Tacoma-Seattle Interurban Directory, 1911–1912; Morda C. Slauson, Renton, From Coal to Jets (Renton: Olympic Reprographics for Renton Historical Society, 1976, 2006), 60. Slauson wrote that it was their daughter Neva who contacted the Carnegie Foundation, but she would have been seven years old at the time. 13 John J. Reddin, “Growing Numbers Follow the Bouncing Ball,” Seattle Times, 3 April 1970, p.A8. 14 “Historic Earlington Social Center Being Razed for Residential Homes,” Renton News-Record, 16 August 1951, n.p.; Dan Voelpel, “Reminiscing: Old Earlington Residents Gather Before It’s Too Late,” n.d.; Vance Orchard, “She’s Fulfilling Lifelong Dream to Write a Book,” Walla Walla Union-Bulletin, 28 March 1979, p.9. 15 Davies, “Interesting History”; “Earlington Reunion Sunday,” Renton Chronicle, May [1964]; Slauson, Renton, From Coal to Jets, 55. The school closed in 1970 and the site later became a city park. 16 “Bob Haddock of Earlington Dies Suddenly,” Renton Chronicle, 12 December 1940, p.8. Earlington School under construction, 1914. (RHM# 41.0547)First tee at the Earlington golf Club, looking east toward Renton Hill, ca. 1920s. (RHM# 1988.079.2541) S UMMER Q U ARTERLY , 2015 | 11 Pets in the Museum! Long before YouTube and Instagram made pet images an inescapable part of today’s pop culture, Renton’s inhabitants were posing with pets of their own, sometimes in hilarious fashion. This lighthearted exhibit celebrates the familial connections between people and their furry friends and explores the human fascination with capturing our pets’ antics on camera. The exhibit features photographs from the Museum’s collection along with opportunities for visitor participation. Bring your well-behaved (and leashed) Fido or Fluffy and snap your own “historic” pet photo in our Victorian mock-photo studio setting. As you can see in the photos above, the photo booth has been quite popular! On exhibit NOw through AUgUST 2 9 Renton Historical Society 235 Mill Avenue South Renton, WA 98057 Phone: 425.255.2330 Fax: 425.255.1570 Email: estewart@rentonwa.gov rentonwa.gov/rentonhistorymuseum Renton Historical Society 235 Mill Avenue South Renton, WA 98057 Phone: 425.255.2330 Fax: 425.255.1570 Email: estewart@rentonwa.gov rentonwa.gov/rentonhistorymuseum MEMBERSHIP FORM Please select a membership level: Individual $30 Student/Senior $20 Family $40 Benefactor $75 Patron $150 Business/Corporate $175 Life membership $750 Basic memberships Sustaining memberships Name: Address: Phone: Payment information Visa or MC #: Exp. date: Signature: Please make checks payable to the Renton Historical Society. Please consider making a tax-deductible donation! Your donations help us provide new exhibits and exciting programs. Donation: $ F U RRY FR IENDS: FROM FA DS TO FA MILY RENTON HISTORY MUSEUM 235 Mill Ave. S Renton, w A 98057 Brand new all-weather, heated, enclosed swimming pool at City Center Motel, 1961. The hotel was located on 3rd Street on the property that Safeway now occupies. (RHM# 2002.001.5793) IN HINDSIgHT...